Free will astrology

Week of January 1

ARIES (March 21-April 19): It's a great privilege to live in a
free country. You're fortunate if you have the opportunity to pursue your
dreams without having to ward off government interference or corporate
brainwashing or religious fanaticism. But that's only partly useful if you have
not yet won the most important struggle for liberation, which is the freedom
from your own unconscious habits and conditioned responses. Becoming an
independent agent who's not an unwitting slave to his or her past is one of the
most heroic feats a human being can accomplish. And you, Aries, will have more
mojo to do that in 2009 than you've had in a long time.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): American financier Jim Rogers evaluates
life as many devout capitalists do: under what circumstances can he achieve the
most wealth? That's why he relocated to Singapore. "If you were smart in
1807 you moved to London," he said two years ago, "if you were smart
in 1907 you moved to New York City, and if you are smart in 2007 you move to
Asia." With that as your spur, Taurus, I'd like you to identify the
driving force of your life. The desire for more money? More power? Wisdom?
Love? Status? None of the above? The next step is to meditate on the
environment and the conditions that would be most conducive to you fulfilling
your quest. In 2009, you'll have exceptional potential to create the ideal
context for your success.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): When I was 19, I read Alan Watts'
The
Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are.
After that, I was sure there was nothing else I needed to know in
order to live intelligently. It was, I thought, a compendium of the best
insights worth knowing. My certainty eventually faded, thank Goddess. In its
place came the understanding that life's mystery just keeps getting deeper and
vaster as one grows older -- that it's idiotically arrogant to ever think
you've got it all figured out. A healthier approach is to cultivate a capacity
to be endlessly surprised. I hope you'll do that in 2009, Gemini. The flood of
novel ideas and fresh perspectives surging your way will warrant it.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): "Dear Rob: These last few months
have been absurdly full of pluses and minuses, ups and downs, lefts and rights.
There have been so many good things happening and yet so many obstacles, too.
It often feels like we Crabs are being rewarded and punished at the same time.
I'm wondering where it's all going and when it will end? A happy ending? A sad
ending? No ending? Will zero ever equal one? - Agitatedly Neutral." Dear
Agitated: You're at the climax of a long balancing process. I suggest you take
this opportunity to tally up the valuable lessons you've learned in the
relentless back-and-forth. Your graduation to a less ambiguous chapter of your
life story will be more robust if you work hard to extract the meaning from
experiences you've tended to see as random or confusing.